Embryo update

None of our embryos made it to freezing. I am kinda bummed. I was hoping we would have at least one or two for backup. I hope one or both of my two that were transferred yesterday like their new home so we do not have to go through this process again.

Day 5/Transfer Day

We had our transfer today at 9 AM. The transfer is a bit uncomfortable and awkward in my opinion, but it was pretty fast process. Both were Blastocyst and praying one or both will be sticky beans. Tomorrow we find out if we have any to freeze. The Embryologist said she wants to give them a little more time since she had to check them so early this morning. I am now on bed rest today and tomorrow. I am already slightly bored. Hahaha. I took a little nap and will probably read my book soon. My mom is coming later to help so that Chris can go back to work tomorrow. Thank you for all the prayers leading up to transfer and all my friends and family who sent me text messages to see how things were going. We love you all.

Day 3

Day 3 update: I had my U/S today. Dr. Reshef said we are moving forward with the transfer on Sunday! He said my lining looks better. Today we had 14 embryos still going strong. We lost one due to being abnormal. We will know our final count on Sunday and how many we have to freeze. We do not have an update tomorrow. Please continue to pray for us. Praying wonderful things for this cycle. Praying God puts our hearts at peace.

Day 2

Day 2 call: Today we had much better news. The 11 they didn't look fertilized yesterday were today! So we have 15 little embryos growing and developing so far. I will get another update tomorrow, but no update on Day 4. I have my u/s tomorrow to check fluid on the lining. If the fluid is gone then we will have transfer at 9 Am on Sunday. We hope for good news tomorrow.

Day 1

We got our call today about our eggs. Of the 21 eggs retrieved, 16 of them were mature. 1 died, 4 are normal, and 11 are not fertilized. The Embryologist said a few could fertilize and develop over night. I am not going to lie to you, I am a little upset about this update. We used IVF/ICSI- the sperm was injected into the eggs. I am trying to stay positive and hope these 4 develop and grow! I will update tomorrow.

Retrieval day

I had 21 eggs retrieved today. The nurses took really good care of me. I really have had the best experience at Bennett Fertility. I am a little more sore this time. The medicine and drinking/eating salty foods should help too. I am resting up today. I will update tomorrow with how many were fertilized etc when I know. 

Risk of OHSS

My nurse called this morning. She said my estrogen level was 3705. So, they called in a prescription to start tonight...vaginally. Lovely...ugh! Well, I picked it up and it said take by mouth so I called the nurse. She said yes, but you will still do it vaginally. I am not liking this idea at all. lol. Yuck! The reason I am taking this medicine is because I am at risk of OHSS( Over Hyper Stimulation). We do not want that. Anyway, I guess I will deal with it and start taking it tonight. Tomorrow is my retrieval. I will update you when I can. I will also start baby aspirin on Wednesday..not really sure why. I will ask the nurse tomorrow. Tomorrow I also start my progesterone injections.

A little more sunshine in our day

Hello! First I want to update you on our appointment we had this morning then I am going to write a little better update from Friday. I was a bit too upset Friday to write a good blog post.

First: We had an ultra sound and blood work this morning. There was still fluid in my lining. Bummer! But, with that being said we are not out. My doctor had Chris and I come talk to him in the
"conference room" today. He told us our options and what he thought was best. We are doing the trigger shot tonight at 8 PM. Then on Tuesday we will go to Bennet at 6:30 Am. my retrieval will be about 7 Am. So we are going to retrieve still which is great! Then Friday I will go back and have an ultrasound to check my lining again.  If it still has fluid we will freeze our embryos and then he will do a DNC and then transfer at a later time. If the fluid is gone we will go ahead and do transfer on Sunday. Of course, the success on frozen is not as good as fresh. Chris and I are doing much better today and it will all work out! God has put my heart and mind at peace since Friday. I prayed and asked God to take over this situation and put us at peace. There is no sense in worrying about something we have no control over.

Second: I want to write a better post from Friday. So, Friday morning I had an appointment and Chris and I were both so excited. My estrogen levels have been awesome so we were feeling wonderful about things. Then our doctor found the fluid and it hit us like a pile of bricks. It was awful (in our opinion). My eyes filled with tears as Dr. R was telling us. Then as I got dressed I started crying like a big old baby! I mean crying! I have never left an appointment that upset before...usually I keep it together till I get to my car. The nurse had to give us our Sunday appointment time and she was just as upset as we were. Then I had to go pay our appointment bill and the lady at the desk brought me tissues...yes, it was that bad. I am sure that office lady deals with a lot of crying ladies. I had to walk out in a waiting room full of people with tears rolling down my face. It wasn't pretty I am sure. Then we had to go to Bennett Fertility to give them our paper work. The office lady saw me in the hall and immediately asked what was wrong and gave me a very long hug. She waved the nurse to come (Nurse J- I will call her). She came out and asked what was going on and gave me a hug too. They said we will pray for you all. Nurse J called me later to check on me. Let me tell you all...our doctor and his staff are the most amazing people ever! They truly care about their patients! After seeing a fertility specialist for a little over a year I finally had one of those melt downs. We have been trying for a little over 2 years and I guess it finally just caught up with me. It was so hard processing what my doctor said till we got home and I had a good cry. Then Chris and I talked about our options and prayed...and prayed some more.

Thank for all the kind words and prayers from our blog followers, friends, and family. We truly are blessed with you all. We couldn't go through this journey without your support and without God. We can't do this alone. Pray that retrieval goes well. I will update Tuesday after we get home. I should be released from the hospital around 9:30ish Tuesday. Praying for good quality eggs and that they fertilize and develop well.

Again, Thank you to all that follow our blog and support us through this struggle in our life.
Lisa and Chris

bummer

Wow...when things are going great and big things come down and hits you in the head! We were given not so great news today. I have fluid around my lining. Which means our cycle may be canceled. :( We go back in on Sunday morning and find out what we will need to do. I am frustrated beyond belief. I just can't wrap my head around all this.

Blessed

Today I had acupuncture..I even have a small bruise on my hand.  Now I have 5 bruises. Today while laying there relaxing/trying to fall asleep I was thinking. I was thinking about a conversation I had with a dear friend yesterday. We talked about how if I get pregnant I will still worry about my pregnancy until the day I hold my precious blessing. I guess with what I have gone through I will worry more than I would have if it wasn't this hard to get pregnant. I have learned so much during my struggle..I know what not to say to someone who is struggling or does not have children. I know that sometimes a hug is better than anything I can say. I know to listen to someone who is going through a hard time instead of saying it will be ok or you will be alright. I have experienced so much pain that I now understand that you have to walk in that person's shoes before you will ever understand what they are going through. I have more love to give then I ever had before! God has strengthened me and given me so much understanding because of Chris and I's journey. I have met some amazing women who are going through similar struggles and I realize not everyone will be able to ever carry their own children. I have hurt in my heart from my pain, but also watching other women with their struggles. I have made friendships with women who know exactly how I feel and are always here for me! 
I have so much to be thankful for and I am so blessed by my God. I have a husband who treats me better than I could ever had imagined. He works so hard for us and I am able to work part time as a nanny. I am thankful I am able to focus on our IVF cycle and not stress about work. I am so blessed. We have a beautiful home, 2 fat black cats, and 1 ornery boxer/German Shepherd mix. We have some amazing friends and family. We have a wonderful church and church family. We have an amazing small group through our church that never lets us fall and if we do they are right there picking us up! 
So, yes, infertility sucks in a bad way! It is a living hell, but God sure has blessed us in many other ways and we have great relationships through this bump in the road. 
Going through IVF is emotional...and I am going through it for the second time. I have had multiple injections, every other day blood work and ultra sound, and I go to acupuncture. I have had my fair share of needles..trust me! I hope one day I can look back on this journey and say I would do it all over again. I pray we get our little miracle this round. Without God in our life Chris and I couldn't make it through this. God is good! All the time!

Doctor appt. and estradiol check

I had an appointment today. I feel like a pin cushion. :) Anyway, during the ultra sound the doctor said he was happy with the size of my follicles. I got a call from the nurse about my blood work. My estrogen level went from 273 to 700! Chris and I are both excited about our cycle! Things are looking so much better than our last cycle. I was given directions on my new dose of meds. I will do 3 menopur powders now. I am a little nervous because 2 already sting so I can only imagine 3. I know this doesn't sound like a big deal to some people, but I am not a fan of injections and really they are uncomfortable. Tomorrow I only do 2 injections a day. Thank goodness! I was tired of the 6 Am injection. Hahaha. My doctor is predicting Monday as our retrieval..so Friday hopefully we will have a definite day! This process is an emotional roller coaster for sure! I have never experienced this kind of pain and loss that Chris and I are experiencing with infertility. We are stronger now than we were two years ago. I have also had to learn to ignore lots and lots of stupid comments! I have realized that some people will never understand and that's ok.

We are praying this gives us our little miracle(s). God has a wonderful plan for us..I know it!

IVF headache...

Tonight Chris was giving me my usual injections. Well...the Menopur needle had issues and some of the medicine came out. Chris got another needle and then it went in great, but we lost some. I called the on call nurse and she said it should be fine. I am still a little worried though. I have an appointment tomorrow and I am sure all will be fine.

I counted 4 bruised on me today. 2 bruises are from blood work and the other two are from injections. I am a pin cushion. 
 I had my acupuncture appt. It went great. It was relaxing. I really feel like it is helping me with this cycle.
Tomorrow I hope my estrogen continues to double!! 

Wednesday Appointment- better news!

Today I had my every other day ultra sound and blood work. My follicles are measuring well and my doctor was very happy with what he was seeing. :) I like when he is happy. I had my blood work done and then talked to the nurse about ordering more meds...and so we had to pay another good amount for more meds...but oh well. The nurse called me and said to continue my injections and finish out my Follistim injection. My Estrogen numbers on Saturday were 96 and today they were 273! She said my doctor was very excited about my numbers! My last cycle we struggled with my estrogen and that could have been the reason why my cycle failed. So, I am very excited and looking forward to my retrieval. He measured 10 good follicles today! :)

Saturday doctor appointment

 

I went in today for my every other day appointment. The nurse called me back and told me to continue Follistim. This is my third pen injection to do this cycle. I am still doing three injections and I have another appointment on Monday.  I am slightly frustrated with this cycle, but I guess we will see how things go.

Today I find myself more upset and frustrated than I was during IVF #1. It just seems like things are not going "right" this time. I wasn't suppressed so had to be put on some other meds which have now made me bleed. Had an awful experience with that at the doctors today...and will not go into detail because you probably don't even want to know. I am still on my Follistim pen. I am a bit more emotional this time and I feel like I can't express myself to anyone. I don't want Chris to get upset because I am upset. He already worries and feels bad watching my go through this IVF again. I can't express to many people because I don't want to sound like a baby, but really I just want to cry and be a baby. Is that wrong?

My favorite nurse was in the office today and did my blood work. We had a little trouble with my veins, but we finally got some blood. She also had to help me with my little mini crisis today. So glad she was the one there because anyone else I would have been even more embarrassed!

I do have to say that I have the most amazing and caring doctor ever! Even Chris said I love how Dr. Reshef treats you. When I was getting my blood work done he came over and patted me on my shoulder. He did say my follicles looked good today. So, I am going to try and not worry about this whole situation. I know it is all in God's hands.

Oh the road of IVF

Today I had a doctor appointment to check on my follicles and some blood work. My doctor was out today, but the nurse did my ultra sound. There were 8 follicles on the right and 4 on the left. My blood work came back that my FSH levels were low. I was suppose to stop Follistm today, but they had me come in and get another prescription so I can continue it. I am still doing 3 injections a day. We go back to see my doctor on Saturday morning. I should have a slight idea of when my retrieval will be. Yay! I also had my acupuncture appointment today. I really hope all this helps us get our BFP! We are trying to stay positive through this process. Lots and lots of praying. We appreciate all the kind messages, prayers, and support from our family and friends. I will update you when we know more. :)

suppression check #2

I went to my doctor appointment for my suppression check #2. The nurse called and let me know I was suppressed! So I started my stim meds today. I have one injection in the morning and 2 in the evening. I go back for an appointment on Thursday. Since my lining is so thick I will have a period. Bummer. Things are moving now! Yay! Starting tomorrow I will see my acupuncturist twice a week. Tuesday and Thursdays. My acupuncturist put me in his already busy schedule!

Suppression check #1

My suppression check was today and when my doctor was doing my ultrasound I could tell he wasn't impressed. He sent me over for my blood work. The blood work confirmed why my doctor was not impressed. I am not suppressed yet. Being suppressed for a IVF cycle is important so that you do not ovulate when starting stimulation injections. So, now I am taking some pills (2 a day) till Monday. I will go back to the doctor on Monday for another suppression check. I am kinda bummed, but it will all be ok. I will not be starting my Stim meds yet. I have to wait a bit longer. What is a little longer anyway...It has already been 2 years. I will update again on Monday and hopefully with better news.